"It's lovely. Light blue is a good color for you, Kaiou-san." Michiru smiled as Ailan delicately embroidered silver filigree on the hem of her skirt. Her many assistants were finishing with the bridesmaids, and each one was wearing a slightly different dress. While the basic design was the same, each woman had asked for a different color and pattern. Ailan was willing to oblige. All of the dresses had a white bodice, even Michiru's, but each one faded to a different color skirt. While Michiru's was light aqua blue with silver filigree wave designs, Usagi's was pale pink with gold roses along the hem, one blood red one with a long green stem on the front. Rei's was crimson red with her favorite flowers, Casablancas, on the hem, white edged in gold. Minako's was orange with a golden chain around the hem, each link a perfect heart shape. Usagi had been worried about letting Venus wear such an obvious symbol of her Senshi form, but the designers just thought it was because Minako resembled the Greek Goddess of love, so a chain of hearts was appropriate. Ami's dress faded to dark blue, tiny dolphins leaping into the "air" from the hem, a design the water Senshi greatly admired. Her designer specialized in sea creatures. Makoto's dress turned dark green, silver and gold lightning bolts intertwined along the hem. Ailan continued to consult with Michiru over the last of the lace on the hem and the designs she had created with the fragile material, her outgoing nature one of her best qualities as a designer. Her customers were happier if she asked for their opinions. Setsuna and Rei entered the room, unnoticed by the silver-haired designer and her flock of employees. Haruka, her tuxedo finished, returned to the living room and stared at her fiancée, who grinned at the constant chattering of the friendly woman crouching on the floor, all of her attention on the skirt in front of her. Setsuna stared at the slender designer, knowing that she was young despite the striking color of her hair. Her pale purple eyes and utter concentration reminded Setsuna of someone she knew long, long ago. The designer stood to look at the finished dress, her back still to Setsuna. "Beautiful," Ailan whispered. "You look just like your mother on her wedding day. She would be so proud of you, as gorgeous as you are. Shou-chan was so pretty . . ." Setsuna gasped, hands flying to her mouth, dark red eyes wide in shock. The designer spun to face her, and the room stood still as both women stared. Ailan's designers vanished into the den as Mamoru slipped into the living room, closing the door behind him. "Setsu-chan . . ." "Serenity," Setsuna breathed, and the Senshi gasped. "It can't be you." The silver-haired woman, tears streaking her cheeks, nodded, a golden crescent moon appearing in the center of her forehead. "You're not dreaming, my love. I didn't know you would be here when I came. I thought you were still at the gate," she whispered as the senshi moved closer. Usagi, blue eyes wide, came to face the woman, a crescent moon on her forehead. "Mother?" Then she was in Ailan's arms, her memories of her mother filling her mind. Ailan let her weak glamour fade, and everyone could see that she was their queen. Eight Senshi and the Prince of Earth hit one knee, heads bowed, an automatic response barely remembered from their last life, and the last Queen of the Silver Millennium released her daughter. "Do not bow to me. I was the queen, but now that burden has passed to my daughter. She is Serenity, I am no longer an owner of that name." She reached down and pulled Setsuna to her feet as the other senshi stood, unsure what they should do. "Now I can live the life I've always wanted. Not as Serenity, princess and then queen of the Moon Kingdom of the Silver Millennium, but as Hikarino Ailan, famous fashion designer." "A normal person." Ailan nodded. "Yes. Like you, like all of you senshi. You're able to live the life denied you by Beryl's attack on my kingdom." She looked at her daughter, now safe in Mamoru's arms, and she smiled. "Even Serenity and Endymion can be together here in this life on Earth. And our errant young princesses." She looked at all of the senshi, but Setsuna caught her chin and turned her back. Touching her lover again after so many hundreds of years sent a shock through her, that small action convincing her more than anything that Serenity was alive. This was the one person in the universe she loved, the one person she would obey without question, the woman for whom she would sacrifice everything. "Ailan," she whispered, trying out the new name. "Can we all be happy?" The silver haired woman nodded, tears in her eyes, and Setsuna leaned forward far enough to let their lips touch. Her world exploded in colors she had only seen in the Time Vortex, and she moaned. Ailan deepened their kiss, fingers linking behind Setsuna's neck. Setsuna used the hand resting on Ailan's waist to pull the slight woman closer, their bodies pressed together. For the first time since they met her so long ago, the senshi watched as tears coursed down Setsuna's cheeks. Rei watched as the Senshi of Time cried for the third time in one day, and she wiped a tear off her cheek for the forbidden love. She glanced at Usagi, wondering if she would ever know, but watching the former queen and her senshi she realized that it didn't matter. Setsuna had a second chance, with her daughter and her lover, and she deserved to be happy. Setsuna pulled away from Ailan, knowing that the woman that she held was the woman she had given her heart to millennia ago. "Did you know that we were here, that we had been reborn?" "I knew the instant Luna turned Serenity—Usagi, I mean—into Sailor Moon; I knew the first time Mamoru became Tuxedo Kamen and swept my daughter out of harm's way; I knew what Minako was up to in England before there ever was a game or a control room in the Crown Arcade; I knew when Ami, Rei, and Makoto joined Sailor Moon; I knew when Michiru first dreamed of the Silence and transformed; I knew when she called her lover to be her partner in the fight; I knew when you came to Earth to help your Outer Partners; I knew when Saturn freed herself and eliminated Pharaoh 90 with Sailor Moon's help; I knew when you died and I waited patiently for you to return to the mundane plane. I knew when all of you died fighting Galaxia, and I cheered when my daughter's love freed Galaxia from chaos and brought you back. I've watched you since the beginning, beloved, but I no longer control the ginzuishou. It belongs to Serenity now, so there was nothing I could do. I thought it best never to meet you." Setsuna nodded, her mind returning to the final battle, watching Serenity die in her arms again. "I know how hard it is to watch helplessly," she whispered. Serenity/Ailan laid her head against Setsuna's breast, arms wrapped securely around her waist. "I'm sorry, Setsu-chan. I never wanted to make you watch us die. But you had to live, you had to keep the spirit of the Silver Millennium alive and protect the Earth from intruders it could not fight. The prophecies said that if all the princesses took their stones and woke their planets, Time must not stop. I didn't tell you in case it made you more determined to die with the other senshi. We all made our sacrifices, Setsuna." Usagi cleared her throat. "Um, Mother? Why are you here now?" Ailan grinned. "I never intended that you should discover my true identity. As a matter of fact, only Setsuna would be able to see through my glamour, but I had no idea that she would be living with the other Outer Senshi, mother to Hotaru. Though, perhaps I should have considered that possibility." She glanced at Setsuna, returning her attention to her daughter as she laughed lightly and waved a hand at Michiru and Haruka, who had joined her finacée. "This time I will not miss their wedding." Beside her, Setsuna also laughed, quite possibly for the first time in centuries, at least since Queen Serenity died. "You do look like Shousha, Michiru-san." "She doesn't remember her mother, Ailan." Ailan glanced up at the former Queen of Pluto, knowing instantly who was suppressing the senshi's memories. "Setsuna! Why haven't you returned their memories to them?" Setsuna stepped back, eyes sad, as all of her loneliness and depression from the past centuries came crashing down on her, even worse than usual, worse even than thinking about losing her daughter, as the Garnet Rod appeared in her hand. "Some things are better left dead," she whispered, her voice full of a pain no one had yet to heal. Clenching her fingers around the staff, the Senshi of Time vanished as she instantly transformed into Sailor Pluto. "Oh no you don't!" With a sudden burst of whatever power she still had leftover from the Silver Millennium, Ailan jumped through the closing portal, vanishing with her lover. Silence. A silence so still that Pluto's Time Stop might not rival it. A silence more profound than Saturn's ultimate power, Death Reborn Revolution. And just as quickly, the Senshi seemed to catch their breaths and their wits. Rei was the first to break the silence, many of the revelations in the past minutes no surprise to her. "Poor Setsuna-san," she whispered. "At least she was used to loneliness. What if Ailan goes away? I don't think Setsuna-san could survive another heartbreak like that." "I didn't know Setsuna-san and my mother . . ." Usagi blushed, thinking about it, and Mamoru laughed at her uneasiness. "What, did you think there were only four lesbians in the Silver Millennium?" Haruka laughed at the suggestion, pulling Michiru into her arms. "At least Setsuna-san has taste. After all, the Queen of the Moon?" Michiru elbowed her lover. "Have some respect, Haruka! This is a very difficult time for them." "And I always felt sorry for Setsuna, being the loneliest senshi," Minako laughed. "I wonder what their story is." "She is lonely," Rei whispered. "She had to watch the woman she loved die, and I think she's in shock. She never expected to see Serenity alive. She'll be okay." I hope.
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